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Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells in pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemiaComponents of the bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) have been shown to mediate the way in which leukemia develops, progresses and responds to treatment. Increasing evidence shows that leukemic cells hijack the BMM, altering its functioning and establishing leukemia-supportive interactions with stromal and immune cells.
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Lessons learnt from influenza vaccination in immunocompromised children undergoing treatment for cancerInfluenza infection contributes substantially to global morbidity and mortality, with children undergoing treatment for cancer among the most vulnerable due to immunosuppression associated with disease and treatment. However, influenza remains one of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases.
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The evolution of clinical trials for infant acute lymphoblastic leukemiaDespite initial improvements in survival of infants with ALL since establishment of the first pediatric cooperative group ALL trials, the poor outcome has...
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Fusionfinder: A software tool to identify expressed gene fusion candidates from RNA-seq dataThe hallmarks of many haematological malignancies and solid tumours are chromosomal translocations, which may lead to gene fusions.
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Drug-gene modeling in pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia highlights importance of 6-mercaptopurine for outcomeThis study advances our understanding of drug resistance in T-ALL and provides new markers for patient stratification.
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Novel non-TCR chromosome translocations t(3;11)(q25;p13) and t(X;11)(q25;p13) activating LMO2In T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cytogenetic alterations juxtapose the LIM-domain-only-2 gene (LMO2) with T-cell receptor loci.
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Vaccine-preventable disease following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant in Western AustraliaThere is a high incidence of vaccine-preventable morbidity post-allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in West Australian children
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RUNX2 regulates leukemic cell metabolism and chemotaxis in high-risk T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemiaT cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy with inferior outcome compared with that of B cell ALL. Here, we show that Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) was upregulated in high-risk T-ALL with KMT2A rearrangements (KMT2A-R) or an immature immunophenotype. In KMT2A-R cells, we identified RUNX2 as a direct target of the KMT2A chimeras, where it reciprocally bound the KMT2A promoter, establishing a regulatory feed-forward mechanism.
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Outcomes for Australian children with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated with blinatumomabWe report on the Australian experience of blinatumomab for treatment of 24 children with relapsed/refractory precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) and high-risk genetics, resulting in a minimal residual disease (MRD) response rate of 58%, 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 39% and 2-year overall survival of 63%. In total, 83% (n = 20/24) proceeded to haematopoietic stem cell transplant, directly after blinatumomab (n = 12) or following additional salvage therapy (n = 8).
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Invasive fungal disease in children with acute myeloid leukaemia: An Australian multicentre 10-year reviewInvasive fungal disease (IFD) is a common and important complication in children with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We describe the epidemiology of IFD in a large multicentre cohort of children with AML.